Moderate lower back pain that won't go away....

[BamaDave]

A couple of months ago, I was deadlifting and hurt my lower back - not anything dramatic, but enough to knock me out of deadlifts, squats, and other weighted exercises that put pressure there.

Location of pain:




I have limited my weight training, even now to the point of just doing bodyweight routines and have also tried limiting running, but it continues to longer on as this modestly painful injury that's enough to prevent me from doing a lot of important weighted exercises. The pain ebbs and flows - it seems to get worse when I am sitting and certainly when I am lying down at night in bed. Because of the ebb and flow nature, I've had a hard time linking the protracted irritation of whatever muscle is irritated with specific activities aside from weightlifting.

Is there anything aside from not re-aggravating this injury that I should be doing to help heal it? I don't have any prior history of injuries at this location, no prior tendencies toward back injuries, and have never experienced back pain associated with long distance running.

Thanks for any ideas!

[UConnJulie]

Backs are tricky sometimes ... it could be as simple as a facet joint strain that has turned chronic, or it could be a mild disk injury (prolapse or bulge versus frank herniation). Doubtful that it is muscle as muscle heals relatively fast and would not still be bothering you at this time. There are just many structures in the spine which can give similar pain. Honestly your best bet would be to get it evaluated by a competent professional in person and treated accordingly.

But, in general, if it hurts to sit, you will likely respond well to backward bending exercises ... like lying on your belly propped up on your elbows (for up to 5 minutes at a time), or a "press up" exercise (like a push up but leave your hips on the ground in sets of 10, 2-3 sets 2-3 times daily).
Make sure your hamstrings and gluteals are flexible (if you sit for a living, they are prone to poor flexibility). When you sit, because it is unavoidable at certain times, then sit in good posture with your tailbone not in contact with the chair (just your "sits bones"/ischial tuberosities) imagining yourself being lifted up from the crown of your head.

[BamaDave]

Thanks, Julie.

So it could actually be in the spine, even though the pain site is so far over toward the hip? Yikes!

I do an exercise as part of a lower body dynamic warmup that is essentially inchworms combined with a backward bend like you described. I have noticed that the back feels better after I do those. I'll add in more back bending.

Thanks!

[UConnJulie]

That's a good sign, but then I would avoid anything that puts your spine into flexion (ie the position you don't want it in when deadlifting!) ... this includes sitting in poor posture, bending over at the waist to pick up something (light) off the floor, etc. Do them as a solo exercise multiple times during the day in reps of 10, especially after you have had to spend prolonged time sitting.

[BamaDave]

Thanks, Julie. Yes, my deadlift injury was due to getting overzealous on a 3-rep heavy set. I knew my form was breaking down but did that third rep anyway.

[johnst_nhb]

Originally Posted by BamaDave

Thanks, Julie. Yes, my deadlift injury was due to getting overzealous on a 3-rep heavy set. I knew my form was breaking down but did that third rep anyway.

Dave,

I have the exact same injury going on right now. It is my second time around with it. When it happened, I felt a minor "pop" and could not stand at all...Ironically, both times this is happened, I was not in gym, but had just come home from the gym and doing some chores.

It hurts, but it does get better...I think Julie's advice was good. Hang in there!

j

[BamaDave]

Thanks, John. I actually didn't feel a pop and even did a bunch of front squats immediately after pulling the muscle, because it felt so minor (yes, Dave's an idiot!!). The only other DL injury I've ever had was one I felt at the lower spine and it was much more painful -- as in, I could barely move. This one is mild but won't go away and is painful enough to knock me out of a numer of exercises. Very frustrating!

[Silencer]

Hey.. ive been suffering from the exact same thing for a year now.. on and off

first happened when deadlifting, then it went away, and 6 moths later came back when doing jumps or sprints...

at first you cant bend to put your socks, puts you down for a week, then it gts better until you cant feel it anymore.

right ?

i just got back to training today after a 3 week shutdown because of that injury, i still dont know why it keeps coming back because only a good therapist can guide me on prevention

My guess is that this injury happens because of lack of stretching and mobility work, and weak foot muscles.

tightness in the hip and hamstring can put this area under stress when sprinting and deadlifting, usually it wll take the beat, but after a few months of loading it will harden up and turn you down for a week or two.

Lack of mobility - usually the back tolerates bad mobility, but then if you over do something, like jumping for 3 hours, it will flare up

weak foot muscles- instead of your foot and ankle absorbing the force, your low back takes it. try low pogo jumps, a good foot and ankle complex takes the force and leaves ur back on low impact
MY weak foot transfers all that force to the back, and i can feel the pain there when doing it.

until you see a therapist:
focus on mobility work, daily !
start foam rolling trigger points
stretch key areas in your body
work the foot and ankle
teach your abs to stabilize alot of weight
usually the back will warm you a week before it fucks up, so learn to listen.

am no expert but the following have helped me.

[Silencer]

by the way, make sure you update me whats up with you !

[pedro]

Your problem sounds like mine (that is slowly geting better). What worked for me was seeing a chiropracter that also specializes in Sports therapy and ART. With his help and Massage therapy the pain is going away. You might want to have the massage therapist focus on the glutes, the lower back, and areas that have had previous injury (i.e I had a shoulder dislocated 9 yrs ago and I had tons of trigger points, everything is connected). Also consider ordering the Magnificent Mobility DVD as ther are many exercises there to get things functioning correctly, I'm no PT but most people have weak or "shut down" glutes, so your hammies and lower back could be working overtime along with a possibilty of poor mobility and flexabilty.
I'm just throwing things out there to you that will hopefully help based on my experience with injury in the same area so please don't get offended. Good Luck and take it easy.

[BamaDave]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, everyone. Fortunately, I have been good about mobility work for the past 6 months thanks to developing iliotibial band syndrome right before and after running a marathon in December. So I will certainly keep that up out of necessity.

Today is my 7th consecutive day of not doing anything to potentially irritate the back - no lifting and no running. And it feels dramatically better. Previously, I have tried short periods of either no running or no lifting, but neither worked. OTOH, I may not have given it enough time to heal after stopping one of those two things, because it has really taken 5-7 days for substantial improvement. This has never been a debilitating injury - just enough to knock me out of deads, squats, etc. Hopefully it will clear up and I can do enough prevention stuff to keep it from coming back.

[UConnJulie]

Keep up with the press-ups ... that should go a long way toward helping ... incorporate them in during your rest periods when doing deads or squats ... after you run ... after prolonged sitting ...